Catching Smiles
by Flesh is Yummy
Summary: 10-year-old Suzaku has an unnerving habit of sticking his fingers in places where they really don't belong. Pre-series. light Suzaku/Lelouch


**Catching Smiles**

**Warning(s): **None

**Disclaimer: **Don't own Code Geass

**AN: **Written for cgkinkmemeii. Much thanks to my friend **phresine **for beta-ing this! I'd recommend checking out her Code Geass fics!

* * *

Suzaku likes seeing Lelouch smile.

Lelouch really doesn't smile often enough. When Lelouch is around the adults, his face is a blank mask. When he's by himself (and Suzaku isn't spying on him, no siree – just _watching_), he's usually frowning, his eyebrows pulled together in concentration. When they first met, Lelouch only really offered the occasional half-smile. Nothing more than a polite dent in the cheek.

The person Lelouch really lights up with is his sister. Nunnally can't even see, but he always smiles around her. Suzaku can't really blame him. Nunnally's smile _is_ pretty infectious. Suzaku wouldn't have thought a blind, crippled person could be so happy, but she never seems to be sad when she's around her brother.

It becomes a challenge for Suzaku: make the siblings smile. He does stupid things like doing handstands behind Todoh's back, and juggling too many eggs so they'll all crack. He holds conversations with the fish he catches, and one time sticks the bait (a bunch of wriggly worms) down his pants. All of that just for a smile.

Making Nunnally laugh is easy. She'll shake her head and say, "Suzaku, why would you stick worms _there?_" Lelouch is less easily impressed. He'll shake his head and call Suzaku an idiot, but it's hit and miss when it comes to making him smile or laugh.

Until Suzaku learns a secret of Lelouch's, that is.

"You're ticklish?" Suzaku asks, unable to mask his delight. He pokes a finger under Lelouch's armpit, and Lelouch makes a noise that sounds awfully close to a squeal.

Finding out that Lelouch was ticklish hadn't been intentional. Lelouch had been reading some long book about war and politics, and Suzaku wanted to play but Lelouch said 'no,' so Suzaku kind of jumped on him in a sort of spidermokey blitzkrieg attack, and it all went downhill from there.

"No, I'm not!" Lelouch shouts, pushing at Suzaku. "No, no, stop!" He bursts into giggles, and Suzaku tickles him harder. Lelouch's shirt rises up, revealing his pale belly, and Suzaku tickles him there too.

Tears are streaming down Lelouch's face, and he keeps telling Suzaku to stop, but there's a huge grin stretched across his face. Suzaku has never seen Lelouch smile that wide before, so he just keeps tickling him because he doesn't want it to go away. He tries to focus in on that smile, so he can remember it. For all he knows, he may never see Lelouch smile like this again.

Finally, Suzaku takes mercy on Lelouch and relents, pulling his hands away. Lelouch pulls down his shirt and tries to make a face at Suzaku, but his eyes are bright. His cheeks are flushed red and stained with tear tracks. Weirdly, Suzaku kind of thinks it's a good look.

"You're a complete savage," Lelouch says, but it's halfhearted.

Suzaku smiles. "You liked it!" he declares, triumphant. Lelouch shakes his head, and that's when Suzaku realizes something. "…Wait. Does that mean Nunnally's ticklish too?"

Lelouch's eyes widen. "You're not touching a hair on Nunnally's head!"

Suzaku starts to race toward Nunnally, and Lelouch follows behind making threats: if Suzaku tickles Nunnally, he isn't going to speak to him! If Suzaku so much as touches Nunnally, he is never helping him with his history homework again!

As it turns out, even if Lelouch won't let Suzaku tickle his sister, he is more than willing to take the fall.

* * *

Suzaku doesn't touch Lelouch often. Lelouch likes his space, and Suzaku respects that – mostly. But sometimes it's hard not to touch someone on a day that's warm and summery and wonderful. There are some days when Suzaku would like nothing better than to mess around in the sunflower fields.

Today, Suzaku has managed to convince Lelouch to play a game he invented called Knight and Dragon. It goes like this: the princess (Nunnally) is given a flower, and the dragon (Suzaku or Lelouch, but usually Suzaku) snatches it away from her. Then the knight (Suzaku or Lelouch, but usually Lelouch) has the task of snatching the flower from the dragon and returning it to the princess.

"That's just tag," Lelouch had said at first.

"Nu-uh," Suzaku had replied. "'Cause you have to wrestle the other person to get the flower back."

"Fine. A more _barbaric_ version of tag."

"You're just chicken."

And then Suzaku had learned that the most surefire way to get Lelouch to do something was to question his courage.

Lelouch is fairly terrible at Knight and Dragon. He's not very fast, not very strong, and has a habit of tripping over his own feet. Suzaku figures out that the best course of action is to go easy on him. Run a little slower. Tackle a little softer. Lelouch seems to like this better.

This time, however, Suzaku decides to go a little harder on him. He ambles up the grassy hills, flower clenched tight in his sweaty hand, Lelouch's footsteps close behind. He doesn't run too fast, but fast enough that Lelouch can't catch him. It's like teasing a cat with a piece of tuna on a stick. They think they can get the tuna, but you just have to whip it away.

But when Suzaku turns to look behind him, he can't help but take pity on Lelouch. He is gasping for air, his small chest puffing in and out from the exertion. His cheeks are red and sweaty, and he looks like he's on the verge of collapsing. Suzaku slows down.

When Lelouch reaches Suzaku, he places a hand on his arm. Suzaku pushes him over, and pins him to the ground.

"Ugh!" Lelouch exclaims, trying to wriggle out of Suzaku's grip. But, unfortunately, Lelouch is a frail knight, and Suzaku is a mighty dragon.

Also, Suzaku would never admit it, but he likes seeing Lelouch get all worked up. That's why he likes asking Lelouch to spar him during kendo practice even though he hits himself with the _shinai._ He likes arguing with Lelouch because he knows Lelouch won't back down. He just likes the way his face scrunches up, and his eyebrows furrow. Suzaku doesn't know why, but it makes him feel warm inside.

Lelouch continues to kick and flail. Suzaku looks at him fondly and then sticks out his index finger.

Lelouch's eyes widen. "What are you—"

There are many places on Lelouch's face that Suzaku could touch: his eyelashes, his lips, his cheeks, his chin…

Instead, Suzaku sticks his finger up Lelouch's nose.

_"Suzaku!"_

When Suzaku pulls his finger back, it's shiny with Lelouch's snot. "Gross," says Suzaku. "Now my finger's all boogery."

Expressions flit across Lelouch's face until he settles on disgruntlement. "What did you expect, you idiot?" He pushes against Suzaku's shoulders. "Let me go."

"Okay," Suzaku says, but before he moves off Lelouch, he drops the flower and wipes the snot on Lelouch's shirt. Suzaku starts running again before Lelouch can register what has happened.

As the sun beats down on Suzaku, his legs carrying him across endless green, he hears Lelouch shriek, "You're _disgusting!"_

Suzaku just laughs, and waits for his knight to catch up.

* * *

Sometimes (but not often) Suzaku sleeps over at the cottage Lelouch and Nunnally are staying at, and sometimes (but not often) Lelouch will even let him sleep in the same bed as him.

Sleepovers usually involve Suzaku having to make sort of excuse. This time he says, "My dad got this new nanny, and she's really mean and grouchy. She yells at me all the time."

And while it's true that the new nanny Genbu employed is more of a hardass than the last, that's not the real reason Suzaku wants to sleep over. He also wants to spend more time with Lelouch and Nunnally, yes, but honestly Suzaku doesn't like his home. It's big, lonely, and too serious. He would never say this to Lelouch, because he knows he's fortunate enough to have a permanent home at all. So he keeps it locked up with the other things that bother him like the fact that his father rarely talks to him, and when he does, it's to ask about the "Britannian children," or how he's doing on his studies, or the fact that the other children won't play with him because they fear him.

Luckily, Lelouch accepts the excuse without question. "Fine, Suzaku," he says, "but I have to do some chores, and give Nunnally a bath. You can't expect me to entertain you the entire time."

"That's okay!" Suzaku says happily. "I can help, if you want."

So Suzaku sweeps the small kitchen and does the dishes while Lelouch gives Nunnally a bath and then tucks her into bed. Finally, Lelouch appears and says, "Okay, I'm ready to go to bed."

The bed is too small to fit two people comfortably, so Lelouch complains, but Suzaku likes it. He likes being snuggled up next to Lelouch, their legs tangled together and Lelouch's breath on his cheek. He likes to watch the way Lelouch's face smooths out when he's sleeping. It is the only time when he really looks like he's ten years old.

When they get into bed together, Lelouch is out like a light. He falls asleep quicker than Suzaku, but he sleeps fitfully. He groans and whimpers, and calls out to his sister. The first time it happened, Suzaku woke Lelouch out of worry, but that only upset him. So he doesn't anymore. He waits for the nightmares to pass, and for Lelouch to sink into a quasi-peaceful slumber.

It's happening this time as well. Lelouch is whimpering, his mouth agape, and Suzaku wants to do something, anything to help his friend. Lelouch's mouth opens a little wider, and for some reason, at that moment it seems appropriate for Suzaku to stick his thumb in Lelouch's mouth.

Lelouch immediately wakes, his eyes flying open, and he spits Suzaku's thumb out of his mouth. He looks furious. "What are you doing?"

"I…" Suzaku's cheeks heat up, because what he's about to say sounds incredibly stupid. "…I thought you could suck on it like a pacifier."

"I'm not a baby!"

"I know you're not!" Suzaku says, putting his hands up defensively. "But…didn't you suck your thumb when you were younger?"

"Of course not!" Lelouch raises his eyebrows. "Did…you?"

"Uh, yeah," Suzaku says, "but…I stopped." And, yes, he should just leave it at that, but for some reason, words start tumbling. "Father would get mad at me and shout when I did, so I would do it behind his back to, y'know, show him." The anger has drained from Lelouch's face. Instead, he looks inquisitive. Suzaku looks down at his hands; the words are just a murmur now. "But then…I dunno. I just got tired of it, and I guess there wasn't a point to not doing what he told me 'cause I'd end up having to do what he said in the end."

He looks back up at Lelouch, and there's a strange expression on his face. He doesn't exactly look sad, but he doesn't look entirely angry either. Like a mixture of both. "Um, Lelouch," Suzaku says, "are you okay?"

Strangely enough, Lelouch smiles. It's a smile that isn't completely happy, but it isn't entirely sad either. "I'm fine, Suzaku," he whispers, placing his hands on either side of Suzaku's face. "Go back to sleep."

And then Lelouch leans forward and kisses Suzaku on the forehead. It's quick and fleeting, but it's there, and when Lelouch pulls back and removes his hands, he's still smiling. Suzaku wants to say something. Should he say 'thank you'? Should he kiss Lelouch back?

But Lelouch closes his eyes, and Suzaku knows the moment has passed. He watches as Lelouch's breathing evens out as he slips back into sleep. He is not fitful this time. This time he's peaceful. Content.

Suzaku places a hand on Lelouch's chest and closes his eyes, lulled to sleep by the heartbeat of his friend.

* * *

**AN: **This was originally titled "THE ADVENTURES OF SUZAKU'S GAY SHOTA FINGERS" (yes, in all caps), but I decided to change the title for FF. 8D


End file.
